Liquid level gauge



195-2 w. w. HASTINGS ETAL 2,584,446

LIQUID LEVEL GAUGE Filed July 1, 1948 Ill INVENTOR. WARREN W HASTINGS RE/DAR A. TOLLEFSEN ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE assent V LIQUID LEVEL GAUGE Warren WI'H a'stin'gs and Reidai' A. 'Toileisen, Brighton, N. Y., assignors to Rochester Mannfacturin'g'Company, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation or New York- Application July l, 1948, Serial No. 36,465

present invention relates to gauges and particularlyjo liquid-level gauges. In a still more specific aspect, the invention relates to floatftype liquid-level gauges.

to an arm which is pivotally mounted on a column or snpportthat carries an indicating device at its top; and the float arm is geared to the indicating to change in level of the liquid, is recorded by the indicator. For pr p r op t h hsth of thelcoluinn or supportmust be such as to position the pivot point of the float arm a, predeterdevice so that change in position of the float, due t.

mined distance above the bottom of the tank or gauge and the gauge will not indicate accurately.

A'great variety of sizes of tanks are employed all fields where liquid level gauges are used. For instance, in the liquid fuel storage field alone there are several difi'erent sizes of tanks employed. 'fieretofore, a difierent length gauge, that is, a gauge with a different length supporting." column, has had to be em loyed for" each When liquid level gauges" are used in tanks for liquifled' petroleum gases; such" as butane and propane, not only doesth tank size" enter" into the length of gauge reqiii'red, but also the height of. the riser or" stand-pi e used on the tank.

Tanks for these low. shecific gravit liquids re frequently buried injthe ground for safety and a rils'erorstand-pipe has to be employed to position the indicating part of the gauge above ground level. The heights of the risers vary'witn different conditions;

Heretofore, then, it has been necessary to pro- Vide" a great variety of different lengths of liquidlevel gauges to meet different requirements as to tank size and riser heights. This means that a large inventory must be maintained; and it adds Y to the production costs.

A primary object of the presentinvention is to provide a liquid-level gauge which is more or less universal asregards length and which can readily be adapted for use in tanks of difierent heights and with risers of different heights;

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable length liquid-level gauge, which is so constructed that regardless of its" adjusted length it will maintain its calibration and indicate accurately.

simple arid sturdy ifi construction.

Still another Object of the inve'htibfi is to pit)"- vide a liquid-level gauge of the character ue= scribed in which the geared ccnnection between float and indicator will be adjusted orre'ctly for length simuitaneousry with adjusting" coliifr'i'n for the correct length to suit a earneslai job. d

Other objects of the invention will he apparent hereinafter froin the specification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings: v

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View of a liquidlevel gauge constriicted according to one embodimerit of this invention, and showing the gaugem zero position of its adjustment;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the 'indioatihg' part of this gauge;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken at right angles t6 the section or Fig. 1

and showing the gauge' djiisted for" length from theposition shown in Fig. 1';

Fig. 4 is a t'ia'lhsi eise sectien Oh the line 4"4 of Fig. 1 but 011' ai! emerged scale;

Fig; 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Fig. '1, again on an enteren s'ca'le'j' and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation taken from the right in Fig. 3 but showifig' the gauge in ap'prmdmatay zero position of its length adjustment. Rferiifig' HOW 110 This earriesa float I t atone end and a; counterweight or' balance I? at its opposite end. The arm is secured by means of a clip 43 toa plate (4.

The plate I a'has ears bent upfroni it at opposite sides as denoted'alt ['5 and [6. The ear Hi is very much larger than ear" I5 and is forrned on its periphery with gear teeth I! so that weenstitutes a gear; member. v

Theplate' I4- is j'du'rfial'd by" fileai'is OT ears l5 24- and outer member 26. Both membersare tubular and part 24 slides and telescopes into part 26. The two parts are held against-rotation relative to one another by a tongue 21 (Figs. 3, '5

"and 6*), which is formed on tube 26 and which engages in a slot or groove 28 that is formed iont of the the drawing bynfimerais or reference, Ill denotes the float arm of the gauge.

for the sight-glass 53.

gitudinally in the periphery of tube 24. Tongue Z1 is iorined by making two parallel slits in tube 26 and bending down the material between the slits. Tongue 2! acts not only to prevent rotation of tube 4 relative to tube but as a guide during au ustment of 1311888 611065 relative 130 one another.

Tubular part is fastened by. pins 21 to a cup-shaped member 3a]. This is mounted within a recess of the gauge housing 3i to which it is secured by pins 32.

The gear member i6 meshes with a spur pinion 35 that is fastened to a shaft 36. This shaft may be made from a piece of bar-stock. It is of re-- duced diameter at its lower end and is'journaled in the stud or bar It coaxial with tubes 2 1 and 25. It extends upwardly through a hole in the yoke 21 and is somewhat enlarged in diameter above the yoke. The collar portion of the yoke lies therefore between the enlarged portion of shaft 36 and the hub 37 of pinion 35.

The shaft 3c is mounted coaxially within a tube 38 and is rigidly connected to the tube as, for instance, by punching the tube at several points into the shaft as shown clearly in Fig. l.

Mounted coaxially within tube 35 to telescope therein is a shaft in. Thi shaft is square in cross-section as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5; and the tube 38 is formed at its upper end, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, so that it is also square in cross-section to fit closely shaft lil. Thus rotation of tubular member 38 is imparted to shaft 46.

The shaft til is adapted to transmit the motion of pinion to the indicating part of the gauge.

cater forms no part of the present invention. The gauge shown is of the magnetic type and here the connection between shaft 45 and the indicator is effected by operation of magnetic forces.

The shaft 4i! has a magnet as secured to it at gearing IE-35, shaft 35, tubular member 38 and shaft 40, the magnet 51 will follow it, imparting rotation in one direction or the other to pointer 46. A spacer 44 surrounds the upper end of shaft 48 to locate magnet 45 in operative relation to magnet 41.

The casing 50 is mounted in a recess formed in the top of housing 3|. It contains a dial 5| and a ring-shaped member 52 which serves as a rest The dial 5| is suitably graduated on its face, as shown in Fig. 2, so that pointer 45 can indicate the level of liquid in the tank with which the gauge is used. Glass 53 is held in position on member 52' within casing 55 by a bezel 54, which is secured to housing 3| by screws 55. These pass through holes in cars, that are formed at diametrically opposite points on the bezel, and they thread into the upper face of thehousing.

The gauge may be mounted on the tank or on the riser of the tank, on which it is to be used, by bolts (not shown) which pass through holes 56 in the housing and thread into the tank or riser. Shaft 40, member 38, housing 3|, casing 45 and 41.

.35 The connection between shaft and the indifactory fixing the length of the gauge.

The gauge described can be used on tanks of dinerent sizes and with dinerent heights 01 risers. when the length OI ost or column, wmcn is required to bring the pivot point or noat arm In at tile center OI M18 nfllgnfi OI the EELDK, 18 known, 5118 Correct, iengtn 01 gauge can De 000311.166]. by pulling out or pushing in tubular member 24 until the desired length is attained. The yoke 2| by its engagement with the hub 31 of pinion 35 or with the enlarged part of shaft 36 and the ad acent end of tube 58 causes the telescoping driven shaft 3li3d4ii to lengthen or shorten correspondingly. Thus, by a single adjustment of the column or post, lengthwise adjustment of the driven shaft is effected simultaneously. The tongue 2| prevents tube 2d from turning during this lengthwise adjustment, a thing very essential to the accuracy of the readings of the gauge. if part 24 were to turn during lengthwise ad ustment, the graduated indicating dial would be displaced angularly with reference to gearing 35-46 and float-arm It with the result that the gauge would not record properly the position of the float. "One of the great features of the gauge of invention is that once the gauge is accurately calibrated it remains accurately calibrated regardless of its length.

The square shaft 40 and the squared end of tube 38 solve in simple fashion the problem of maintaining the drive in any adjusted position of the driven shaft. Once the ad ustment for length has been made, the gauge operates just like a conventional gauge. Change of level of liquid in the tank causes movement of float arm In which is communicated through gearing -l6 35, shaft 36, tube 38, shaft 40 and magnets 45 and ll to needle 46.

A gauge made according to the present invention can be used, then, 'as long as a float rod ID of suitable length is provided, on tanks of various sizes and having various heights of risers. A float rod [0 of proper length can readily be secured to the gauge by clip 13 by bending over the ears of the clip after they have been inserted in slot IQ of plate [4. The clip I3 is brazed,soldered or otherwise securely fastened to the'arm Ill.

The present invention provides therefore, an indexing type gauge of simple, compact structure which can be made up in quantity and adjusted at the factory or in the field to obtain the required length. A great saving in production costs results therefore, for all the liquid-level gauges for a particular type of work can be made alike regardless of tank orriser dimensions. If the length required is known in the factory, tube 24- can be adjusted to the required length and tongue 21 can then be spot-welded to tube 24 in the If the length is not known in the factory, the length of the gauge can be adjusted in the field by jobber'or user. A set-screw 6G is provided for this purpose to permit securing the tube 24 in any adjusted position. This set-screw threads into tube 26 and abutsagainst tube 24.

The invention obviously is not restricted to use with a magnetic type gauge, but may be employed on liquid-level gauges of various types.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been described, it will be understood, then, that the in- .andincluding such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A liquid level gauge comprising a telescoping tubular column, a float arm pivotally mounted on one part of said column, a graduated dial carried by another part of the column, a pointer movably mounted on said other part of the column and adapted to register with said dial, a

telescoping shaft rotatably mounted in the two parts of column, said shaft comprising two parts one of which is polygonal in cross section and the other of which is tubular but shaped to receive and to fit closely aboutthe first, whereby one part of said shaft will rotate on rotation of the other part of said shaft, one part of said shaft being connected to said float arm to rotate on movement of the float arm and the other part of said shaft being connected to said pointer to move the same on rotation of the shaft, means connecting one part of said shaft to one section of the column so that the two move axially together, whereby the shaft adjusts telescopingly on telescoping adjustment of the column, and cooperating means on the two parts of the column for preventing rotation of one part of the column relative to the other during said adjustment.

2. In a liquid level gauge, a column comprising two tubular parts one of which telescopes into the other, a float arm pivotally mounted on one part of said column, a graduated dial carried by another part of the column, a pointer movably mounted on said other part of the column and adapted to register with said dial, a telescoping shaft rotatably mounted in the two parts of the column, said shaft comprising two parts one of which is polygonal in cross section and the other of which is tubular but of corresponding polygonal cross-section to receive and closely fit the first, so that rotation of one part of said shaft is transmitted to the other part thereof, one part of the shaft being connected to said float arm to rotate on movement of the float arm and the other part of said shaft being connected to said pointer to move the same on rotation of the shaft, means connecting one part of the shaft to one part of the column so that the two move axially together, whereby the shaft adjusts telescopingly on telescoping adjustment of the column, one part of the column being grooved longitudinally, and a tongue carried by the other part of the column and engaging in said groove to prevent rotation of the two parts of the column relative to one another during axial adjustment thereof.

3. A liquid level gauge comprising a telescoping tubular column, a member, which is movable in response to variations in level of liquid in a vessel, movably mounted on one part of said column, an indicator carried by another part of said column, and means for actuating said indicator on movement of said member comprising a telescoping shaft disposed within said tubular column coaxially therewith with its two end portions rotatably mounted in the said two parts of said column, one end part of said shaft being operatively connected to said member to be rotated on movement of said member, the other end part of said shaft being connected to said indicator to actuate said indicator on rotation of the firstnamed part of the shaft, means preventing rotation of one end part of said shaft relative to the other, means for connecting the first-named part of the shaft to the first-named part of the column so that on telescoping adjustment of the column the shaft is adjusted telescopically, and means preventing rotation of one part of said tubular column relative to the other.

WARREN W. HASTINGS. REIDAR A. TOLLEFSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,072,122 Johnston Sept. 2, 1913 1,396,655 Newton Nov. 8, 1921 1,634,165 Williams June 28, 1927 1,920,971 De Giers Aug. 8, 1933 1,922,362 Halversen Aug. 15, 1933 1,971,610 Hayward Aug. 28, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,754 Switzerland Jan. 8, 1895 465,798 France Feb. 14, 1914 

